


Beast Tamer

by talesofsinsandmonsters



Series: Tales of Zara Underhill [2]
Category: Heartland (TV), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Death, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Angst, Hybrids, Kinks, Light Bondage, Light Dom/sub, Mating Bites, Possessive Behavior, Scent Marking, Sex, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2020-12-27 01:09:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21110213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talesofsinsandmonsters/pseuds/talesofsinsandmonsters
Summary: When her family dies unexpectedly while rescuing a pair of abused Hybrids, Zara Underhill finds herself in charge of her family's 650 acre horse ranch. Together with her two siblings, Scarlet and Edison, Zara endeavors to fulfill her grandmother's final wish; do something good with the legacy she's left behind, and put her uncanny ability to deal with unruly Hybrids to good use.Thus The Hill, a sanctuary for animals and Hybrids that society has given up on was born.Based heavily on the TV show, "Heartland"





	1. Chapter 1

The shelter’s lights were almost too bright, a sharp pain through Zara’s head telling her she was already well on her way to a migraine, and she’d only just stepped into the building. Behind her, her best and most trusted friend, Park Ji-Yoo, was flipping through a list.

“I know it’s a long way to travel,” she said, “and I know it might be stressful to get him over to America when you go home, but nobody will take him here, they think he’s too dangerous. He won’t eat anything. At this point I think they’re just going to shove him off on anyone that shows interest or they’ll put him down.”

Zara scoffed, a smirk forming on her lips, green eyes twinkling.

“There’s no such thing as  _ too dangerous,” _ she said. Ji-yoo cracked a small smile, slipping in front of Zara.

“Well before you get all high and mighty about your  _ Beast Tamer _ powers, you should see him first before you make any decisions. I just thought you’d want to try before we gave up.”

Zara ran a hand through her blonde hair, still smirking.

“Lead the way, Ji-yoo.”

Ji-Yoo had worked in the shelter for four years before she met Zara in their first year of University, and now, at 23, she was one step below manager.

Zara could hear the Hybrid before she saw him, deep, angry growls, and screams that you might think were a woman being brutally murdered if you didn’t know any better. Zara, of course, knew better. She knew the sounds of a Hybrid in distress when she heard them.

Rounding the corner, she saw a volunteer standing at the closed Plexiglas door of a Hybrid containment unit, a large cart of meat behind him. His face was pale, eyes almost comically wide as he held his hands up in surrender.

“Don’t show fear,” Zara said, startling the young man further. “He’s more likely to go for the throat if he thinks you’re weak.”

The threat was enhanced by the Hybrid throwing himself at the Plexiglas, causing the whole structure to creak and groan. The volunteer shrieked and jumped back, tripping over the cart of raw meat and crashing to the floor.

Zara doubled over, laughing so hard that it was coming out in quiet squeaks. Ji-yoo let out a frustrated sigh.

“Zara, come on, don’t scare the volunteers. Just take a look at the Hybrid and see if you want him or not.”

Zara sobered, though the traces of her laughter were still on her face as she helped the volunteer back to his feet.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I couldn’t resist. Can you do me a favor, though? Can you cook the meat? Not too much, rare will do. If you want him to eat, that’s how you’ll get it to happen. He’s half human, after all.”

The volunteer nodded and scurried away, taking the cart with him. Finally, Zara turned around to look at the Hybrid.

Every muscle in his lithe body was tense, his jaw clenched and his golden feline eyes were locked on Zara, analyzing her every move. Though Zara took the lack of growling as a good sign. When Ji-yoo stepped next to her with the keys to the unit, a snarl made its way up his throat. Ji-yoo stiffened next to Zara, keys frozen inside the lock.

“Hey,” Zara took the key gently from her friend’s hand, “it’s okay, I got it. Just step back.”

“But if my boss finds out I let you in there without me and something happens-“

“It’s okay,” Zara repeated, and hesitantly, Ji-yoo relinquished the keys, stepping back out of the Hybrid’s sight line.

He didn’t move as Zara stepped into the unit, his eyes piercing her own.

“Hey,” she greeted, sitting down slowly, leaning her back against the Plexiglas. She took the Hybrid in. He was almost stupidly handsome, his face all smooth skin and sharp angles. His brown hair was a bit of a mess, as though he’d spent a lot of time just running his hands through it as he cowered in his unit. The only thing that bothered Zara about the Hybrid’s appearance was the fact that she could see his ribs under his skin, the delicate bones of his wrist, the sockets of his eyes. Ji-yoo hadn’t been kidding when she’d said he was refusing to eat. “I’m Zara, what’s your name?”

Silence. Zara lost her internal battle to keep the smile off her face, pulling out her phone to scroll through her family group chat.

Her younger sister Scarlet was going on and on about a book series she’d been reading and the love for the main male love interest.

Scarlet:  **You don’t understand, guys. Will Herondale is actually a freaking saint.**

Edison:  **Didn’t you say he spent the first book trashing on his love interest.**

Scarlet:  **Yeah, but it’s because he was trying to protect her.**

Edison:  **Young adult novels are fucked up...**

Zara chuckled, typing out a response to her brother:  **That’s because young adults are fucked up.**

“What’s so funny?”

Zara’s eyes flashed up to find that the Hybrid had approached silently, and was now sitting with his toes almost touching hers, his knees pulled up to his chest. The gold in his eyes had begun to dull, melting into chocolate brown.

“My siblings are having an intense debate about books,” Zara replied, setting her phone on the tiled floor. She pulled her knees to her chest and smiled at the Hybrid. “Hi,” she said again, “I’m Zara.”

His eyes darted all over her face as she spoke, seeming to debate whether or not to give her his name. He took a deep breath, smelling only pure intentions off of this human.

“Kim Seokjin. Jin.” He said. Zara rewarded him with a bright smile. She reached her hand out to set it between his ears, but he shied away from her touch. She leaned her arm on her knees to let her hand dangle in the air between them.

“Well, Kim Seokjin, do you like books?” He’d lapsed into silence again, so Zara shrugged and began to chatter. “My sister loves books, she’s constantly reading them. She gets it from our grandmother, Ruth. The twins- that’s Scarlet and Edison- we used to spend every summer working on our grandmother’s ranch. Eventually we just moved there.” Out of her peripheral, Zara saw Seokjin’s feline ears twitch at the word  _ ranch.  _ Aha.

Zara began telling Jin all about her grandmother’s ranch, about the 650 acres of land that had been passed down through the generations. She told him about how it had been at the Ranch that Scarlet found her love of reading, where Edison learned the value of hard work and Zara discovered her love of animals.

“Right now the family has a barn, it’s mainly for horses but it’s a Hybrid friendly ranch.”

“You have Hybrids?” Jin asked, tilting his head. Zara shook her head, glancing down at the floor. He hadn’t yet noticed, but as she talked, his thick tail had wrapped loosely around her ankle. She had him, whether he knew it or not.

“No, we don’t own any Hybrids, yet.”

Another moment of silence, and then, “How many horses do you have?”

“We own three of them, but we have 9 currently at the ranch.”

Jin shuffled closer, “Do you have humans working for you there?”

“My grandmother hires a few ranch hands for the winter, and sometimes she’ll have kids from the local group home stay on the land and work to lessen their sentence. In the summers it’s usually just me, Scarlet and Edison.”

Jin leaned a fraction closer, “Why are you in Korea?”

“I just graduated from school here, and I haven’t headed home just yet.”

“Where is, ‘home?’”

“Colorado, just outside of Crested Butte.”

Jin’s ears twitched at this, his tail curling a little tighter around her ankle as he blinked wide eyes at her.

“It...snows in Colorado?”

Zara’s lips curved into a grin. Jin didn’t seem like the type to like snow; it was more of a Canine trait than a Feline trait, but clearly the prospect of snow had caught the big cat’s attention. Perhaps it was because he’d been wild.

“Every Christmas is a White Christmas. It’s like everything is covered in a thick, pure white blanket. The air is cold and crisp, and everything is utterly quiet. It’s peaceful.”

“It sounds like a good place for a Hybrid to live,” Jin said, moving closer still. Zara smiled, thinking of home.

“I hope so.”

A silence stretched on, Jin’s gaze locked on Zara’s outstretched hand. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that nobody was going to want a mountain lion Hybrid, and he’d managed to scare off any prospective owners because he couldn’t bring himself to trust them. He knew Zara was probably his final chance at life, and already he found himself trusting her a little more than others.

She’d come in knowing this unit was his space, and hadn’t tried to force him into adoption like all the others had, wasn’t treating him like an overgrown pet. She was waiting for him to make the decision for himself.

“So, can I?” He asked, and Zara’s eyes fixed on his.

“Can you, what?”

“Live there? With you?”

Zara’s eyes darted over his face, and she stretched her fingers out towards him again.

Without complaint or hesitation, Jin bumped his head under her palm, letting her fingers stroke through his hair. Almost without him noticing, a purr rumbled deep in his chest.

“Sure, Jin. I’d be happy if you did.”

“I think...me, too.”

* * *

Jin stepped off the airplane with his ears pressed against his head under a hat and his tail curled tightly around his waist. By the time they had gotten to the baggage claim and grabbed Zara’s stuff, he was itching to get into the open air. 

Zara’s family huddled in the parking garage, around an old red pick-up truck. It was Ruth Underhill that spotted her first, recognition lighting up her elderly face.

“There’s my baby!”

Jin bit back the instinctive snarl building in his throat as he watched as one by one, the five strangers wrapped Zara up in tight hugs. He and Zara had been working on his trust issues with humans, and the fact that he wasn't growling at everyone that passed was a big improvement. Zara had counted the plane ride to America as a huge win.

When her father released her from his grip, everyone turned to Jin, watching as his tail twitched in agitation.

“This is the Hybrid?” Myra Underhill asked, taking a step forward. Jin let out a short growl that had George grabbing his wife away and Zara stepping between her family and her Hybrid, blocking his view of them. He pressed himself against her, stooping low to press his face between her shoulders and allowing her comforting presence to overtake him.

“Sorry, mom. He’s had a big day. But yes, this is Jin. Kim Seokjin.”

It was quite a sight, watching Jin’s ears pop up over Zara’s shoulder, twitching as she said his name. Scarlet let out a giggle, turning her head into a smirking Edison’s shoulder to muffle it.

Jin’s eyes appeared next, searching out the noise. Zara felt Jin’s nose press harder into her shoulder blade upon meeting Scarlet’s eyes.

Ruth Underhill placed her hands on her hips, giving Jin a wide grin that reminded him so much of Zara that he felt like he was looking at a mirror image.

“Well, then, son, welcome to the family.” She stepped forward, and instead of apprehension, Jin felt only the same calming aura that Zara gave off. With a quick glance at his owner, Jin let Ruth pull him out from hiding and place her hands on his face. She turned his face this way and that, looking at him at multiple angles in the dim parking garage lights.

Zara’s fingers on his tail calmed his discomfort at the examination.

“A handsome young man,” Ruth decided, and Jin’s shoulders straightened out, pride showing in his eyes. “Scrawny, though. Did they not feed you in that shelter?”

“They did,” Jin replied, trying his hardest not to stumble over the English words. “I didn’t eat.”

“Now that won’t do at all,” Ruth scolded gently, releasing Jin’s face, and making her way to the truck, which Zara’s father had started up. “We are going to have to break that habit.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Call me Ruthie,” Ruth said sternly. “I already told you, you’re family.”

Zara grinned at him as she pulled him up into the bed of the pickup.

“Come on, Jinnie. Let’s go home.”

_ Home. _ Jin liked the sound of that.


	2. Chapter 2

Jin’s heart pounded in his ears as he ran through the trees that surrounded The Hill. The first day he’d been on the Ranch, Zara had taken him on a walk of the whole property, making sure he knew where this new territory extended to and where it ended. Now, a month later, Jin still ran the route every day before everyone woke up. Patrol, he called it.

When he finished his run he’d return to the two storey ranch house, shower, and curl up next to Zara in her room until the sun came up. At first this had been a topic of great debate between Zara, Edison and George. The two men didn’t think it was proper for Zara to have Jin in her room, and so for the first week, Jin had started out the night in the ranch hand’s empty quarters. They’d given up the fight when they’d found Jin curled up next to Zara every morning like the overgrown cat he was. 

Zara always woke up naturally at first light, and it was these quiet moments that Jin looked forward to the most; when Zara would turn over into the warmth of him and run her fingers through his hair, scratching the base of his ears and down his back. The feeling always had Jin purring loud enough to vibrate the entire bed, rubbing his head against her wrist.

He’d follow her downstairs, and watch as Ruth cooked breakfast for the rest of the family. Breakfast with the Underhills was not a grand affair. George read the paper as he ate his eggs. Myra and Ruth chatted about ranch business and Zara helped Jin with his English. Scarlet and Edison both slept in until the last possible moment, stuffing toast and eggs down their throats before running out to Edison’s truck to head to school. Jin accepted a quick head stroke from Scarlet every morning.

After breakfast, the day’s work began, although beyond his daily patrols, Jin wasn’t expected to do much. So he filled his days mainly frolicking through the vast fields, familiarizing the domesticated animals with his presence by playfully chasing the chickens and horses around. 

Sometimes George would grab him by the shoulders, ruffle his hair and bring him to town on errands. While it made Jin nervous to be away from Zara for too long, George’s unwavering faith in not only Zara’s work with Jin, but in the Hybrid, himself made Jin that much more determined to keep his instincts and mistrust on lockdown.

People had looked at George with an odd mixture of shock and awe on their faces when he’d walked into the general store that doubled as the town’s only restaurant. The first time, Jin had felt his hackles rising in response. George had patted him on the head and quietly explained the staring.

_ “You won’t find a lot of people that own rare Hybrids like you around here, Seokjin. People just don’t have the money for it. The only other people around that do have the exotic Hybrids are the Warwicks over at Highbridge Stables.” _

_ “They have the money, I take it?” Jin grumbled, his tail wrapping loosely around his leg. George nodded his head. _

_ “Yeah, and Isabella Warwick is overly fond of throwing it around. She bought her daughter a zebra Hybrid last year, not that Rosie cares much for her. Her son Carson has a damn tiger Hybrid that he brings to school with him, according to Scarlet. And that's not to mention the regular domestic Hybrids. So far there’s no word of any actual abuse, so we’ve had no reason to interfere but we’re keeping our eyes out- ah! Morning, Marnie!” _

_ A woman about Myra’s age with lovely light brown skin and dark ringlets had approached the counter, a bright smile on her lips. Jin caught the woman’s scent and realized she smelled much like Scarlet’s best friend, Anais. This, Jin reasoned, must be Anais’s mother. _

_ “Good morning, George!” She greeted, before her eyes slipped over Jin. “Ah this must be Zara’s Hybrid. I thought Anais was joking when she said that Zara had come home from Korea with him in tow.” _

_ Jin didn’t stiffen the way he normally did when someone mentioned him being owned by anyone. Instead, he straightened his shoulders with pride at the fact that his owner was well known and apparently well liked. _

_ George’s hand once again landed gently between Jin’s ears, ruffling his hair. Jin’s head bumped up against his palm in response, closing his eyes. He’d had to quickly get used to being touched when at the Ranch; the Underhills were overly tactile in their affections, always hugging him or stroking his hair. Zara had told him it was good preparation for the real world, since humans in general felt the need to touch, and Jin had to admit he didn’t mind it much. _

_ “This is him,” George agreed. “Kim Seokjin, this is Marnie Derulo, Anais’s mother and the one that does all the hard work keeping this town stocked up.” _

_ Jin opened his eyes slowly, blinking them up at the pretty woman. _

_ “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” _

_ Her cheeks flushed immediately, “God, Anais wasn’t kidding about how handsome you were, either.” _

_ Jin’s lips curled into a smile, and George chuckled. _

_ “Come on Marnie, he’s got a big enough ego as it is, with Mom and Zara spoiling him rotten.” _

_ “Alright, alright,” Marnie rolled her eyes. “Your order is all ready, I’ll have one of the boys load the truck for you.” _

_ “Marnie,” George reached over and grabbed Marnie’s hand, pressing a kiss to it. “Thank you kindly.” _

_ Marnie rolled her eyes, before dropping a wink at Jin. _

_ “Anytime.” _

* * *

“Jin!”

The young voice made Jin pause, turning to see the Underhill’s talkative 12 year old neighbor coming towards him with distress written clearly on her round cheeks.

“Emily,” he greeted back, leaning on the shovel he was using to muck out the horse stalls in the barn. As soon as she got close to him, Jin could smell the agitation on her, and his eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

Emily Jones was a common sight at the Hill, around so often that Jin had at first mistaken her as another Underhill sibling that Zara had neglected to mention. It would have made sense; Emily, Scarlet and Edison all shared the same blonde hair that Zara had had before dying it the outrageous shade of pumpkin orange it currently was, and Emily’s eyes were the same bright blue color as Scarlet’s. She even shared the same love of animals that all the Underhills did. But then he noticed that every day Emily would arrive on her bike and every night Edison or Zara would drive her (and the bike) home. 

She was a sweet kid, but she talked practically nonstop and she had a bad habit of wanting to know everything you were doing. But Zara had a soft spot for the child that had inevitably rubbed off on Jin.

Emily opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a disbelieving scoff.

“Wow! I didn’t know the Poverty Barn could afford such an expensive Hybrid.” The overly sweet voice had Jin’s instincts going haywire, his ears flattening to his skull and his tail twitching. “And a hot one, at that.”

Jin’s features began to twist into a scowl. The girl standing at the door to the barn was very blonde and very skinny, the smile on her face too sweet to be genuine. And she was looking at Jin like he was a piece of meat.

A dog Hybrid came into the barn behind her, his tail tucked between his legs and his ears drooping. When he raised his eyes to meet Jin’s, he noticed that this Hybrid was young and sad, and definitely Korean _ . _

“Can I help you?” Jin asked, the growl in his voice so low that only the horses heard it, those closest to him shifting nervously.

“Hmm,” the girl smirked, taking a step towards him. Jin could smell her; too expensive perfume and an undertone of something rotten. 

Zara had told Jin that if he tried hard enough he could smell someone’s intentions, whether they were good or bad. This girl’s intentions were nowhere near the realm of good.

“I hope you  _ can _ help me, kitty.” Jin tensed as the girl reached her fingers towards his ears, and he quickly turned his head away. He couldn’t stop her from touching his ears, but he could avoid instinctively biting her fingers off. “You know, over at Highbridge we’d really  _ take care _ of you. I’m sure the little family of misfits does what they can but the bottom line is they can’t afford-“

“Rosie!” It was Ruth’s voice that cut the girl off, as the old woman and Zara led their horses into the barn. “Hi, sweetie! How’s your mother?”

It was like a switch had been flipped. The blonde turned to face the Underhill Matriarch with a smile dripping with sweetness.

“Mrs. Underhill! She’s great, thank you for asking!”

“Hmm,” Ruth gave a tight lipped smile of her own and moved to put the two horses back into their stalls. Rosie scowled as soon as the old woman was out of sight.

Zara stopped next to the dog Hybrid, her eyes shifting between him and Jin a few times before settling on Rosie. Jin could read in her body language that Zara didn’t like this girl at all.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well I heard you got a Hybrid while you were away in Korea so I wanted to meet him.”

There was a long pause, before Zara nodded.

“That’s fine. But careful. He bites.”

Jin fought a smirk as Rosie snatched her hand away from Jin’s ears. Zara turned to the Dog Hybrid and scratched at a spot between his shoulders, making the beagle squirm, light coming into his eyes.

“How’s my little Taehyungie, Hmm? You’re awfully quiet today.”

“That’s part of his training,” Rosie snapped, “we’re trying to stop all his whining.”

Taehyung opened his eyes to look up at Zara pleadingly, pouting his plump lips at her. Zara gave a small smile back, moving to stroke one floppy ear.

“Soon, baby,” she told him gently. Jin’s own ears perked up at this; it seemed to be an exchange the two had often. As Taehyung rubbed his face against Zara’s collarbone once, lightly scenting her, Jin felt nothing but concern for the pup. Judging by what he had heard from George about the Warwicks, he figured an ordinary beagle didn’t really suit their exotic tastes.

And based his reaction to Zara petting him, Jin could tell the poor thing didn’t get much attention.  _ Or at least _ , Jin thought, mind going back to Rosie coming on to him not five minutes ago,  _ not the kind of attention he needs. _

Hybrids that didn’t get the proper amount of human contact tended to end up like Jin used to be; mistrustful of humans and snapping every time one tried to touch him. He didn’t want to see another Hybrid go through that.

“Well, you’ve seen him,” Emily said, still clutching tightly onto Jin’s jacket, “so you can go.”

Rosie scoffed, and shrugged, turning on her heel. “Yeah, fine, whatever. Zara, say hi to Scarlet and Eddie for me.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure they’d be absolutely thrilled to know you were here.”

Rosie rolled her eyes, and snagged Taehyung by the back of his shirt, dragging him out of the barn and towards the flashy red convertible Isabelle had bought when Rosie turned 16.

Ruth reappeared in time to watch Rosie shove him into the car, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning on the barn door.

“We’ve really got to get him out of Highbridge.”

Zara nodded, keeping her eyes fixed on the car as it peeled out down the laneway.

“I know, grandma. I’m working on it.”

* * *

Jin had been with Zara for six months when Scarlet came rushing into the house after a ride late one night, her face a mask of blind panic.

Jin’s senses were instantly on high alert, rocketing up from the couch.

Before Scarlet had come in, the whole family had been completely engrossed in some straight-to-DVD Hallmark movie, and Jin had had his head laying in Zara’s lap, purring as she stroked his ears, gently kneading one of her thighs with his fingers.

All the content feelings had vanished the second Scarlet had come running in.

“Guys,” she cried, her hands slamming onto the back of the couch, making Zara jump. “Guys, there’s a problem over at the Kepsly farm. A really  _ big _ problem! I know that you told me never to go by the Kepsly’s farm, but it was starting to rain so I took a shortcut home, and as I was passing by I heard them.”

Her words were jumbled together in her panic, spoken so quickly Jin had difficulty understanding her.

“Scarlet, baby,” Myra reaches out to pull Scarlet into her arms, “slow down. We can’t understand you.” With soothing hands on her back, Myra managed to calm Scarlet down enough to speak normally.

“Mr. Kepsly has a bunch of Hybrids locked in his barn, and I think he’s going to force them to fight. Or something just as bad, I don’t know.”

There was a tense moment of silence, and then the entire family was a flurry of movement. Ruth stood quickly, switching off the TV and going to get her jacket.

“Zara, you, Edison and Jin stay here and wait for us. Myra, George, Scarlet and I will take care of the Hybrids at the farm. Prepare a stall in the barn just in case some of them come with us. Plenty of blankets and lots of food and water, we’re not trying to take them out of a bad situation and put them back into one.”

As Ruth dishes out orders, they all moved together like a well oiled machine; George and Myra pulling on their jackets and boots; Zara gathering up some of the many flannel blankets the family had in the home; Jin moving into the kitchen to make the beef broth that Ruth had taught him to make; Edison slipping outside to hook the trailer up to Ruth’s red pickup.

Jin stayed in the kitchen as the Underhill’s said farewells at the pickup. His eyes trained on the horizon. He could hear the thunder rumbling in the distance, and the evening air carried the scent of rain and electricity. He hoped like hell the Underhills would be home before it got too bad.

It wasn’t until two hours later, with the soup simmering on the stove and Edison pacing back and forth between the living room and kitchen, and Zara staring at the landline from her father’s armchair that Jin realized Zara and Edison had stopped waiting for a call saying their family was coming home and started waiting for one that said they weren’t.

When it finally did ring, neither Edison nor Zara moved to pick it up. It rang three times before finally Jin uncrossed his arms and picked it up.

“Hello, Underhill Ranch.”

“Hello, this is Sheriff Goldstein of the Crested Butte Police Department-“

Jin couldn’t stop himself from closing his eyes and taking a sharp breath. His tail flicked nervously, his ears pressing flat against his head. That was all the Underhills needed to see to know what was happening. The tears welled in Zara’s eyes and Edison let out a shout, punching the hard wooden frame of the kitchen doorway. Zara pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her legs around them. Jin crouched at her side, his heart pounding as he wrapped all of himself around her. He’d never seen Zara become so small before, and he felt the urge to protect her.

“- Underhill there?”

“Sorry,” Jin’s voice came out more gruff than he intended it to. “What was that?”

The officer didn’t seem perturbed, gently repeating his words; “I said I have some unfortunate news, son. Is Zara Underhill there?”

Jin turned his head down, pressing his nose into Zara’s hair for a moment, before hesitantly handing her the phone.

Zara listened to the Sheriff with a blank face, responding quietly when needed.

“What about the Hybrids?” Zara asked. Her face twisted into a frown at the response, before she sighed, raising a hand to subconsciously rub the back of Jin’s neck. “Which hospital did you say? Crested Butte Medical Center. Thank you, we’ll be there.”

She hung up slowly, her hands shaking, before looking at Edison, who had crouched himself on the ground, pulling at his hair.

“Scarlet is in the hospital, we need to go.”

Edison turned teary red eyes up at Zara, swallowing hard.

“I’ll get the keys.”


End file.
